This invention relates generally to the field of scaffolding and more particularly to an adjustable scaffold base for allowing scaffold towers to be erected above ground level obstructions.
Traditionally, it has generally been difficult to change light bulbs or perform other high-elevation indoor maintenance tasks, such as painting or repairing ceiling surfaces, in churches, theaters, stadiums or other buildings that have high ceilings and that also have permanently-fixed ground level obstructions, such as pews or other fixed seating structures. Traditional frame-scaffolding that would normally be erected to facilitate high-elevation maintenance tasks is generally inappropriate for environments that include ground level obstructions because the spacing between the frame legs of such scaffolding typically does not match the spacing around pews or other large or irregularly-shaped obstructions. Even if the frame spacing of traditional scaffolding could be made to coincide with the spacing around ground level obstructions, the necessary cross-bracing between the scaffold frames would hit the obstructions. Furthermore, the legs supporting the scaffolding may have to bear on surfaces that can be 45 inches or more out of level with one another, whereas typical scaffolding leveling jacks that are normally employed to accommodate uneven surfaces only have about 14 inches of vertical adjustment. Still further, typical scaffold frames are only wide enough to support freestanding structures that are approximately 20 feet tall, which is not tall enough to reach the ceilings of many buildings.
It is possible for scaffold companies to build tube-and-clamp scaffolding structures that accommodate environments that present immovable, ground level obstructions, but the cost of labor and equipment to erect such structures is often prohibitively expensive. It would therefore be desirable to provide a relatively low-cost, highly adjustable scaffolding system that can be erected around immovable, ground level obstructions for accommodating high-elevation tasks such as replacing light bulbs and painting or repairing ceiling surfaces.
It is therefore an object and feature of the present invention to provide a low-cost means for allowing a conventional scaffold tower to be erected in a manner that avoids ground level obstructions. It is a further object and feature of the present invention to provide such a means that is suitable for supporting a conventional scaffold tower having a height that is sufficient for allowing a worker to reach the ceiling of a church or other such building having high ceilings. It is a further object and feature of the present invention to provide such a means that can be easily moved while still fully erected.